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In the restaurant business, nothing is as important as consistency. It's all about controlling a diner's expectations. And Bistro Don Giovanni does it in spades. The food is consistently good, the service is consistently friendly and professional and the atmosphere is always warm and inviting.
We have now eaten at this warm and friendly Cal-Ital restaurant more than 100 times and have never been disappointed on any visit.
Donna and Giovanni Scala are the driving force behind this successful restaurant, veterans of the profession in many guises — on land, on sea, in cities, in small towns. They came to Napa Valley in 1987 and started Piatti's, a cheerful chain of tasty, low cost, Italian restaurants. They traded six locations for one killer restaurant called Bistro Don Giovanni which they opened in 1993 and in the process have the made everyone's life here better, happier.
Check out other Top 100 listings to learn just how good the food here is. Don Giovanni earns the award for "Best Caesar Salad" in Napa Valley, as well as "Best Pasta Dish," albeit shared with one at Tra Vigne in St. Helena.
At certain times of the year, Donna, or her talented chef, Scott Warner, prepares an appetizer pizza that is worth a detour to Napa town, even from Calistoga. It has caramelized onions, luscious grilled figs, thinly sliced prosciutto, mountain Gorgonzola and is misted with a Balsamic glaze. If you can stop at one pizza — let alone one slice — you have better control than we do!!
Among pastas, the trenne, a triangular penne, is brilliant. The pasta is tossed with snippets of braised lamb, artichoke and black olives and calls for a lusty Syrah from the wine list, which itself is grand.
The wait staff here is the most skilled in Napa Valley. They ooze warmth, yet are hard working and always professional. They have an ability to make you feel as though you are eating in your own home without ever ingratiating themselves, kneeling to give the daily specials or telling you their name.
Bravo!
Bistro Don Giovanni, 4110 St. Helena Highway (on Hwy 29, just north of Salvador at the north end of Napa town). 707-224-3300.
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